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A HISTORY OF CONCERT WALTZES FOR PIANO (LECTURE-RECITAL)

TOGETHER WITH THREE RECITALS OF SELECTED WORKS BY

RACHMANINOV, STRAVINSKY, SCHUBERT, J.S. BACH,

REGER, ADAMS, COVINO, CHOPIN, SCHONBERG,

IVES, AND BEETHOVEN

DISSERTATION

Presented to the Graduate Council of the

North Texas State University in Partial

Fulfillment of the Requirements

for the Degree

DOCTOR OF MUSICAL ARTS

By

William Lloyd Adams Jr.

Denton, Texas

May 1978

Adams, William Lloyd Jr.: A history of Concert Waltzes

for Piano (Lecture-Recital) Together with Three Recitals of

Selected Works by Rachmaninov, Stravinsky, Schubert,

J. S. Bach, Reger, Adams, Covino, Chopin, Schonberg, Ives,

and Beethoven. Doctor of Musical Arts (Piano). May,

1978. 55 p.; 34 illustrations; 24 titles.

The first three recitals contained solely performances

of piano music. The first one consisted of an Etude-Tableau

by Rachmaninov, the Capriccio by Stravinsky (the chamber-

ensemble accompaniment arranged for second piano), and the

great Sonata in A minor by Schubert.

The second recital contained a Prelude and Fugue by

J. S. Bach, Reger's Variations and Fugue on a Theme by Bach,

a Romance by the performer, Peter Covino's Toccatina Op. 4

No. 8, and Chopin's Nocturne Op. 55 No. 2 and Scherzo in E.

The third recital consisted of Schonberg's Sechs Kleine

Klavierstilcke, Ives's Some South-Paw Pitching, and the

Sonata Op. 106 ("Hammerklavier") by Beethoven.

The fourth recital featured a lecture which surveyed the

piano waltz throughout its history. Several complete examples,

namely Weber's Invitation to the Dance, Chopin's Waltz in

A minor, and La Valse by Ravel, and incomplete examples

including a Lundler by the performer, several of Schubert's

waltzes, Chopin's Waltz Op. 42, and Man Lebt Nur Einmal! by

Strauss-Tausig interspersed the lecture.

All four recitals, tape-recorded, and the lecture,

typewritten, are filed together in the Graduate Office of

the North Texas State University.

PREFACE

This dissertation, comprising four programs, features

piano music, a piece for chamber group, and a lecture-

recital tracing the waltz from its dawning to its culmination.

For each recital I chose works contrasted in mood, length,

key, texture, fame, and original date.

The first recital began with the Etude-Tableau Op. 39

No. 5, in Eb minor, by Rachmaninov, whose emotional melodies

and harmonies have always captivated me. Next followed the

Capriccio (1929, rev. 1949) by Stravinsky, for piano

accompanied by small orchestra. This piece, and later those

by Reger, Ives, and Weber, continued my tradition of in-

cluding on every degree-recital a composer whose music I

had never played before. Schubert's Sonata Op. 42 (D. 845)

in A minor, the only significant piece here included that I

had performed previously, was chosen for the purpose of

comparing my interpretation with the insights of my teacher.

The second recital opened with the Prelude and Fugue in

F major from Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier, Book 2; then

followed Reger's huge Variations and Fugue on a Theme by

J. S. Bach. This juxtaposition both unified (through concepts

of Bach and fugue) and diversified (through key and size) the

first half of the program. Since B is the second letter, A

1

2

the first, etc., numerically BACH is 2 1 3 8; and Reger's

fourteen variations divide into four sets of two, one,

three, then eight variations when tempi, tonalities, thematic

concinnity, and pauses between variations are compared. I

chose this piece, and later those by Schanberg and Ives, to

celebrate their composers' birth-centennials. I composed

the Spring Romance in Db in 1971; its melodies develop two

soggetti cavati, one from a serial number, the other from a

personal name; the overall form was suggested by many of

Debussy's short pieces. Peter Covino, composer of the

Toccatina, a 1 -minute frolic featuring long, rapid arm

motions, was at the time of this recital a doctoral student

of composition at the North Texas State University. The last

two pieces, by Chopin and bearing consecutive opus numbers,

diverge in key and mood. The barcarollesque Nocturne Op. 55

No. 2, in Eb major, features incommensurate rhythmic figures.

The Scherzo Op. 54, in E major, the only separate scherzo by

Chopin in a major key, is also the only one in which laughter

predominates in conformity with the title.

Schenberg's Sechs Kleine Klavierstcke, Op. 19, predating

his serial technique, seem to epitomize the greatest possible

variety of moods in the realm of Expressionism. Some South-

Paw Pitching, by Ives, depicts the boisterous, convivial

atmosphere of a baseball game. Beethoven's Grosse Sonate fur

das Hammer-Klavier Op. 106, in Bb major, famous for over a

3

century as one of the five or ten most hallowed piano

compositions because of its depth of conception, sublimity,

length, and difficulty, was chosen for its wealth of beauty

and excitement.

"A History of Concert Waltzes for Piano" features four

important or typical works:

a. Weber's Invitation to the Dance, the first full-

length piano waltz;

b. The waltzes of Chopin, the earliest idiomatically

mature waltzes for piano and the first set of piano pieces

to interest me as a child;

c. Tausig's Man Lebt Nur Einmal!, arranged from Strauss

in the late-nineteenth-century virtuosic style; and

d. Ravel's La Valse, exemplifying Impressionism, and

one of the pinnacles of waltz music.

4

THE NORTH TEXAS STATE UNIVERSITY

SCHOOL OF MUSIC

PRESENTS

WILLIAM L. ADAMS JR., PIANIST

PROGRAM

Etude-Tableau in Eb minor, Op. 39 No. 5

Capriccio for Piano and Orchestra*

Presto; Doppio movimentoAndante rapsodicoAllegro capriccioso ma tempo giusto

Sergei Rachmaninov

Igor Stravinsky

Sonata in A minor, D. 845

ModeratoAndante, poco mossoScherzo: Allegro vivaceRondo: Allegro vivace

Franz Schubert

4 p.m., Monday, 16. April 1973 RECITAL HALL

In partial fulfillment of the requirementsfor the degree Doctor of Musical Arts

*The accompaniment, arranged for second piano bythe composer, is performed by Dr. Stefan Bardas.

5

THE NORTH TEXAS STATE UNIVERSITY

SCHOOL OF MUSIC

PRESENTS

WILLIAM L. ADAMS JR., PIANIST

PROGRAM

Prelude and Fugue in F major (WTC, Vol. 2) J.S. Bach

Variations and Fugue, Op. 81, on a Theme by J.S. Bach*Max Reger

1: Andante2: Andante

Theme: Andante7: Adagio8: Vivace9: Grave, espressivo

3: Grave assai 10: Poco vivace11: Allegro agitato

4: Vivace 12: Andante sostenuto5: Vivace 13: Vivace6: Allegro moderato 14: Con moto

Fugue: Sostenuto-PiUi moto

Intermission

Spring Romance in Db

Toccatina, Op. 4 No. 8

Nocturne No. 16 in Eb major, Op. 55 No. 2

Scherzo No. 4 in E major, Op. 54

8:15 p.m., Tuesday, 16. April 1974

Wm. L. Adams Jr.

Peter Covino Jr.

Frd6ric Chopin

RECITAL HALL

In partial fulfillment of the requirementsfor the degree Doctor of Musical Arts

*First Denton performance

6

THE NORTH TEXAS STATE UNIVERSITY

SCHOOL OF MUSIC

PRESENTS

WILLIAM L. ADAMS JR., PIANIST

PROGRAM

Sechs Kleine Klaviersticke

Leicht, zartLangsamSehr langsame

Some South-Paw Pitching

S chnberg

Rasch, aber leichtEtwas raschSehr langsam

Ives

Sonata in Bb Major, Op. 106 ("Hammerklavier") Beethoven

AllegroScherzo: Assai vivaceAdagio sostenutoLargo-Allegro--Prestissimo--Allegro risoluto (Fuga)

8:15 p.m., Monday, 14. April 1975 RECITAL HALL

In partial fulfillment of the requirementsfor the degree Doctor of Musical Arts

7

THE NORTH TEXAS STATE UNIVERSITY

SCHOOL OF MUSIC

PRESENTS

WILLIAM LLOYD ADAMS JR;

in a

LECTURE-RECITAL

A HISTORY OF CONCERT WALTZES FOR PIANO

Featuring

Invitation to the Dance

Valse Brillante in A minor, Op. 34 No. 2

Valse in Ab major, Op. 42

Man Lebt Nur Einmal!

I"

Weber

Chopin

Strauss-Tausig

Intermission

Valse Oubliee No. 1

Bagatelle No. 14: "Ma mie qui danse...

La Valse

Lis zt

Bartok

Ravel

8:15 p.m., Monday, 9. August 1976 RECITAL HALL

Presented in partial fulfillment of therequirements for the degree

Doctor of Musical Arts

8

Features and Background of the Waltz

The word waltz (Ger. Walzer; Fr. valse; It. valzer;

Hung. keringf) originally came from the Latin volvere

(rotate).

Up to the early eighteenth century the waltz and the

minuet exemplified opposite social strata. For example, in

Mozart's Don Giovanni, ". . . the aristocrats . . . dance a

minuet, Don Giovanni and Marcellina.[Zerlina.apparently

intended] a contre-danse, a kind of compromise between the

nobility and the common people, while Leporello and Masetto,

standing as they do on the bottom rung of the social ladder,

amuse themselves with a waltz."1

The names of some of the waltz's ancestors reveal traits

which the waltz itself later adopted: the Dreher (a turning

dance), Weller (surging), Spinner (spinning), Schleifer

(gliding). Other names told places of origin: the Steirer

(from Steiermark, or Styria, an Austrian province), and most

importantly the Landler (literally, a rural dance, but

specifically from the Land ob der Enns, a region in northern

Austria) .2 Some of these dances existed as early as the

fourteenth century; all were round dances of single couples

in close embrace, as opposed to rows facing each other, and

most were in triple meter.

1Mosco Carner, The Waltz (London, 1948), p. 14.

2 Carner, p. 12.

9

Much of the waltz's appeal must have stemmed from the

physical closeness of the partners. As in all ages, the

upper classes at first denounced such dances as lascivious

and obscene because of their closeness and tossing motions,

but soon they were participating also. The already incipient

blurring of class distinctions typical of eighteenth-century

society was thus furthered as people of all types mingled

in dance halls. In Austria and southern Germany, where the

nobility and peasantry were close, the waltz became prominent.

It remained fairly confined to this area until the last

generation of the eighteenth century.

In classical Vienna no distinction was made between

"serious" and "entertainment" music; serious music was enter-

taining, and entertainment music was taken seriously. Tunes

started finding their way from the operatic stage to the

dance hall, and vice versa; in 1787 Mozart observed "with

whole-hearted pleasure how people jumped around with sincere

enjoyment to the music of my Figaro which had been turned

into all kinds of Contres and Teutsche." 3 Josef Lanner, a

violinist and the first waltz specialist, wrote a waltz

incorporating tunes from Don Giovanni and The Magic Flute;

Johann Strauss, Sr. wrote one on fragments from Beethoven's

"Kreutzer" Sonata. The yodel also served often as a melodic

3Carner, p. 17.

10

element. According to Reeser,4 the upward skip of a seventh

was so derived; Nettl cites An der Schonen, Blauen Donau 5

as an example, from its octave-skips; most convincing,

however, are skps of greater than an octave, such as those

in Man Lebt Nur Einmal! by Johann Strauss, Jr.

8 _" r" ~ wiiwi M~w , ww rwr wIrr~.E.e. r~ i~racw . E.« , a:

F 1hcon 'razia

- -ow _ -

Ex. 1-Johann Strauss, Jr. (arr. Carl Tausig) : Man Lebt NurEinmal!: m. 92-95. ____

The Landler was a slow-to-moderate dance .in three beats

with accents.:on each,, and the steps included hopping and

leaping; it was accompanied by especially alluring melodies.

With its spread into cities the pace became quicker, so that

the accentuation came to fall on the first beat, with the

third beat becoming especially light, and gliding steps

replacing stamping. In this connection an especially pianistic

device (which, however, started on the guitar) arose in Upper

4 Eduard Reeser, The History of the Waltz (Stockholm,1949) , p. 36.

5 Paul Nettl, The Story of Dance Music (New York, 1947),p. 256.

11

Austria in the 17th century and passed into orchestral

practice: the. chords accompanying the melody often extend

over a range wider than most hands can reach; therefore a

single bass note or octave usually falls on the first beat,

and the other notes are repeated on the second and third

beats. 6

According to Viennese custom, the beats are played

temporally unevenly: the second beat; is, anticipated,

imparting a swing essential to the performance of a Viennese

waltz. Sometimes the rhythm of a waltz accompaniment is even

written out or

LMn&ar

'mfi

Ex. 2-A typical Landler: first period

6Carner, p. 22.

.

12

Individual titles for waltzes seem to have started with

Lanner and Strauss, Sr. Previously they were called merely

"Waltzes" or, before Beethoven, "Deutsche." Schubert

especially gave such names as "Gratzer Walzer" to suggest

where they were composed. Some of Lanner's and Strauss's

descriptive titles honored special persons or places, or

commemorated anniversaries or festivals. Lanner wrote

Separation Waltz on the occasion of his split with Strauss.

Strauss, Sr. wrote Victoria Waltz. Strauss, Jr. wrote An

der Schonen, Blauen Donau; Man Lebt Nur Einmal!; Wein, Weib,

und Gesang.

Waltz music for keyboard represented no revolutionary

novelty. After all, the earliest keyboard music was dance

music (estampie, ca. 1300), which kept its rhythmic and formal

shape when it evolved from the function of accompanying steps

into an art in its own right; also, the juxtaposition of

several dances, especially of contrasting mood, continued a

pattern set by the sixteenth-century dance suite.

The first waltzes in larger forms were mere groups of

usually six short waltzes in binary or ternary form, strung

together with no more unity than their common mood. Later

the first waltz in the set, and maybe another also, would

recur near the end; also a coda, usually nonthematic, would

serve to intensify the conclusion.7

7Carner, p. 26.

13

Early Waltz Forms

The first distinguishable artistic waltzes were played

in ballrooms at the Austrian court around 1660. Before 1700

Johann Heinrich Schmelzer, influenced by Alpine instrumental

music, wrote hundreds of waltz-like dances. "One might

indeed say that the Viennese Landler and waltz both have

their origin in Schmelzer's dance compositions."8

The earliest specific waltz piece known is the "extempore

comedy" Der auf das Neue Begeisterte und Belebte Bernardon by

Felix von Kurz, a Viennese clown, in 1754; the music is

"probably by Joseph Haydn."9 The first known piano waltz

also is by Haydn, a "Mouvement de Waltze" from a sonatina,

in 1766.10 (The Hoboken Thematic Catalogue lists no such

movement for piano; possibly it is a transcription.) His set

of twelve Deutsche Tdnze contains no real waltzes, but

several German Landler, the longest 44 bars; a 75-bar coda

indicates that they are intended to be played together.

Clementi, Mozart, and Beethoven wrote early piano waltzes,

including some especially for masked balls in the Redoutensaal

in Vienna.1 1 Before 1800 the waltz had spread to France and

England.

8 Carner, p. 143. 9 Reeser, p. 36. 1 0 Carner, p. 28.

llKathleen Dale, Nineteenth-Century Piano Music: a Hand-book for Pianists (London, 1954), p. 251. Viz.: (Clementi)Op. 38 and 39, both with tambourine and triangle; (Mozart)K. 509, 536, 567, 571, 586, 600, 602, 605, and 611 compriseforty-nine "deutsche Tanze"; K. 606 is a set of six "Landler-ische"; (Beethoven) WoO 84 and 85; Anh. 14, 15, and 16, whichare spurious, include the well-known Abschied vom Klavier.

14

Johann Nepomuk Hummel's Tanze fur die Apollo Sale (1808)

was the first suite of purely concert waltz-like pieces for

keyboard. They are still LAndler, accenting every beat.

The early nineteenth-century waltz usually consisted of two

eight-bar periods, and the only musical continuity resulted

from stringing together several of these small waltzes.

Toward 1815 the characteristic "oom-pa-pa" accompaniment,

found only sporadically in previous ages, gained wide usage.

Friedrich H. Himmel produced in 1810 a suite, Sechs Grosse

Walzer fur Liebhaber des Pianoforte, containing both binary

and ternary forms. The first, third, fourth, and sixth

dances are in C; the second in G; the fifth in F. Thus tonal

unity results from the motion in each half of the suite to a

key a perfect fifth away. The suite ends in a coda.

From Himmel and Hummel onward, the waltz continued to

expand in both its internal construction and the combination

of its themes, and culminated a half century later in such

works as Liszt's first Mephisto Waltz.

Waltzes of the Early Romantic Era

Franz Schubert's dance pieces, exhibiting poignant

harmonies, infectious rhythms, and melodies inspired, as

his usually were, by long-breathed phrasing and beauty of

shape, exerted a tremendous influence on the music of Lanner,

Strauss, and their associates.12 Like Haydn, Mozart, and

1 2Dale, p. 252.

15

Beethoven, but unlike Hummel, Schubert wrote his early

piano dances to accompany actual dancing; his later and

longer sets serve more appropriately as pure piano music.

Schubert's waltzes, like Beethoven's and Hummel's, exempli-

fied the early nineteenth-century Viennese style: relatively

slow, steady tempi; still some stress on each beat (but the

first beat began to dominate); melodic flow in even quarters

and eighths; no syncopation or cross-rhythm as found in the

later Viennese style. Many of these LAndler-like pieces

comprise two eight-bar sections; later ones often have ternary

form (Op. 67) or contain a trio (Op. 127). To illustrate the

extreme brevity of these dances, the set Op. 9 fits neatly

on twelve pages-and contains thirty-six pieces. Some of

Schubert's waltzes exhibit minor tonality, a characteristic

foreign to Lanner and Strauss.

The characteristic accompaniment figure appears noticeably

more often in the works of Schubert than in earlier music;

twice he uses this figure by itself as an introductory measure

before starting the melody.

Ex. 3a--FEranz Schubert: Waltz Op. 9 No. 34: m. 1-6. Noticealso the curious accented third beats in the r.h. over changingharmony.

16

Other traits also prefigured a later style: the first

waltz in Op. 127 contains a rapid upward chordal leap of two

octaves (Ex. 3b); the trio of this waltz, and also the ninth

waltz of Op. 18, require the right hand to cross over or

under the left in the middle of a melody (Ex. 3c); the sixth

waltz in this set persistently accents a high f#' on the

second beat. Occasionally Schubert could also look backward:

the harmony of the ninth waltz of Op. 127 is almost completely

tonic and dominant, and several of the Op. 9 and of the

Gratzer Walzer imitate yodeling.

Ex. 3b-Franz Schubert: Waltz Op. 127 No. 1: m. 1-8

Ex. 3c-Franz Schubert: Waltz Op. 18 No. 9: m. 1-6

Weber subtitled his Invitation to the Dance a "brilliant

rondo in the spirit of a waltz" and thus identified the most

important feature of waltz music. Tempo, form, harmonic and

17

melodic patterns, rhythm, and even meter may vary; but its

one necessary and sufficient property is its spirit.

On rustic walks during Weber's student days in Darmstadt,

he kept alert to glean from the peasants melodies some of

which he incorporated into his Rondo.1 3 Several traits mark

this Rondo as highly innovative. The form itself, in which

one theme recurs several times among various episodes, and

another appears in two different keys in turn, is the first

such for any dance music. The piano writing is completely

idiomatic and virtuosic, in contrast to Schubert's occasional

quasi-orchestral textures such as occur in the repeated

chords and octaves in Ex. 3d.

Ex. 3d: Franz Schubert: Waltz Op. 18 No. 12: m. 1-8

The key of Db major fits the hand on the keyboard as on

no other instrument. The tempo is fast, giving rise to more

extended themes, and the first waltz comprises sixty bars.

It is the first waltz with a specific program: the usual

1 3 John Warrack, Carl Maria von Weber (New York, 1968),p. 87.

18

introductory phrase has been expanded into a miniature

drama almost a page in length.

When Weber had finished the piece in 1819 (it was notpublished till 1821), he played it to her [his wife],and accompanied the performance with the followingcommentary: "First approach of the dancer (bars 1-4) ;the lady's evasive reply (5-8); his pressing invitation(9-12-the short appoggiatura c and the appoggiatura abare very significant); her consent (13-16); they enterinto conversation-he begins (17-18), she replies(19-20), he speaks with greater warmth (21-22), shesympathetically agrees (23-24). Now for the dance!He addresses her with regard to it (25-26), her answer(27-28), they draw together (29-30), take their places,are waiting for the commencement of the dance (31-34).-The dance.-Conclusion: his thanks, her reply, theirretirement. Silence. "14

The introductory material returns in the coda to provide

even greater unity (Ex. 4a). The rests in the theme of the

second waltz cause suspense, and foreshadowed Lanner and

Strauss (Ex. 4b). The original idea of the depiction of

noble chivalry by a waltz helped to assure the "Invitation"

a permanent place in pianistic repertory.

CC. Moderato. -

lnv atian to the Dance 3

Ex. 4a-Carl Maria von Weber: Invitation to the Dance: coda

1 4 Frederick Niecks, Programme Music in the Last FourCenturies (London, 1907), p. 138-139.

19

wi fgendrpcking)

0 10 40 103 104 105 106_ 107 108

Ex. 4b-Carl Maria von Weber: Invitation to the Dance:second theme: beginning.

Weber's Invitation to the Dance may be considered epoch-

making, since it was the first composition to embody the

waltz in a full-length piece of piano music and was the

forerunner of the waltzes of Chopin.1 5 It revolutionized

the piano concert waltz as much as Der Freischutz did German

opera.16

Chopin

In 1830, when Fredric Chopin left Poland and went to

Vienna-no longer the city of Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, and

Schubert, but of Strauss and Lanner-he wrote disparagingly

of waltz music and complained that the Austrians called

waltzes "compositions" and Strauss and Lanner "orchestra

directors": "Today any organ grinder can play Strauss."17

1 5Dale, p. 255.

16H. E. Jacob, Johann Strauss, Father and Son: a Centuryof Light Music, Translated by Wolff (New York, 1939), p. 55.

1 7 Casimir Wierzynski, Rubinstein Plays Chopin, Programnotes for phonograph record (RCA Victor).

20

Chopin wrote at least fourteen waltzes, reflecting the

elegant salons of Paris more than the Viennese dance halls.

Most of them are virtuosic like Weber's; others, such as that

in A minor, have been termed Valse mdlancolique. Like

Schubert, whose waltzes Chopin probably never heard, Chopin

wrote several waltzes in minor keys. Niecks called them

"dance poems."1 8 They are "dances of the soul and not of the

body." Schumann said that "Dancers of these waltzes should

be at least countesses." "There is a high-bred reserve

despite their intoxication, and never a hint of the brawling

peasants of Beethoven, Grieg, Brahms, Tschaikowsky, and the

rest. "19

Chopin's early waltzes are simple, in ternary form,

sometimes with an extension or a coda, like those of Schubert

or Brahms, some almost Lndler-like. Those that we know

today (the first written when Chopin was fifteen) were

published posthumously. As worthy as they are, he preferred

to suppress them in favor of eight works from his maturity

which he published, starting with the Grande Valse Brillante,

Op. 18. The Waltz No. 11 is among the earliest pieces of any

kind written in Gb.

1 8 Frederick Niecks, quoted by Casimir Wierzynski,Rubinstein Plays Chopin.

1 9James Huneker, Chopin: The Man and His Music (New York,1927) , p. 242-243.

21

Several of Chopin's waltzes are introduced by a martial

fanfare, as if calling attention to the dance about to begin

(Ex. 5a). These are stylized; Chopin never wrote programmatic

or "functional" dance music. Often a brilliant coda contains

virtuosic figurations and an increase in tempo (Ex. 5b). The

ending of the Waltz Op. 34 No. 1, described as dithyrambic,

influenced the Prdambule of Schumann's Carnaval.2 0 Several

have the "dance" form of several pieces strung together, but

always with some recurrence near the end for unity. A notable

procedure is the use of the "refrain," a section which

appears after every other section and serves different

purposes. The refrain of Op. 42 occurs six times, the first

four essentially identical; the fifth changes, threatens to

modulate, and leads to the climax; the sixth begins the coda,

preparing to wind up the tempo and wind down the harmony.

Occasional irregularities add to the charm of Chopin's

waltzes. The slow episode of Op. 42 contains some asymmetric

phrase structures that subtly upset the rhythmic smoothness

(but not the spirit); the same effect may result elsewhere

from an accent on a weak beat. After the reprise of Op. 64

No. 3 starts as expected and progresses normally through a

double period, the theme, still in its usual contour, suddenly

shifts from Ab major to E major as the ab' (g#') in the

melody (previous corresponding passages modulated to F minor)

2 0 Huneker, p. 245.

22

becomes a mediant and the leading tone to the relative minor

in the bass assumes tonic (1) function (Ex. 5c: m. 132-133) .

Such half-enharmonic modulations became typical of Liszt.

After eight bars the key of Ab is restored, but simultaneously

the theme vanishes forever in favor of a coda built on

extraneous material.

Vivace

4 I I

I !

Ex. 5a-Frdd6ric Chopin; Valse Brillante Op, 34 No.3:m. 1-9.

"

A

I soFE_d

OIL- '_

21.

:

I I

U I

I

23

poc4 3 p _co__t__l_nd__sino

A 1 f i io .r.m.Ar36- - ILdV I -, F3

41 Pm.e*-~~.~2 2 33 '212 3'.i1 2 e 311 2'4:1

I , ,'., .

L ..l ..

' f: * Tha. * T

Aft3

* Ta * T. * Ta.

A At2 1 1 1 3 "s 3 t

fit1

r' . " r4 . 4 a. * T.

Ex. 5b-Frederic Chopin: Valse Op. 64 No. 3: m. 146-171

,#- La.

.. , - ..-.... ....7-,._.. _.._. .. _._

|

i

i

24

'r J. * 'i -4

Ex. 5c-Frederic Chopin: Valse Op. 64 No. 3: m. 131-141

The Waltz Op. 34 No. 2, in A minor, is the least deserving

of the name. Sorrowful, slow, and typically Slavic in rhythm

and melody, it received the title Valse Brillante and the

highest favor by Chopin. It is the longest one in minutes,

although it takes only five pages, and has six themes, which

occur in various successions. The form of this waltz bears

a slight resemblance to that of the first movement of the

Sonata in Bb minor (Op. 35, consecutive to the A-minor waltz)

in that the first theme fails to recur where it is expected.

25

Lento

Ex. 5d-Frederic Chopin: Valse Brillante Op. 34 No. 2:first theme.

The Waltz Op. 42, in Ab, like few of Chopin's pieces,

bears no dedication. It is the first one called simply Valse

after four Valses Brillantes but is probably the most

brilliant of all. Like the A-minor its form is a near-rondo,

but in mood the two are poles apart. Though on paper the

longest waltz (10 pages), its Vivace tempo makes it only a

little longer in minutes than average for a Chopin waltz.

After an eight-bar introductory trill, the first theme

enters: the right hand plays a continuous eighth-note

figuration; the melody, always falling on the first and

fourth notes, gives the impression of a two-beat (6/8)

measure. This celebrated theme has given the piece the nick-

name 2/4 Waltz. The left hand plays normal waltz-accompaniment

figuration, should any doubts remain for the listener. (See

Ex. 5e.) The second theme is the one that serves as refrain

26

or ritornello, one of the squarest sixteen-bar parallel

double periods imaginable, yet always graceful, contrasting

splendidly with each of the episodic themes like the basic

ecru against the colored designs in a tapestry. The

next episode seems to begin a bar late, or at least to cause

some wonder about which of the bars are "strong" (odd-numbered)

and which "weak" (even), reminiscent of the optical illusion

of a corner of a cube faced head-on: Does it point toward or

away from the viewer?

I1eggteroA 1 51

4

Ex. 5e-Fr6dsric Chopin: Valse Op. 42: m. 9-12

The Later Romantics

After Chopin no other composer of the Romantic Era,

except possibly Liszt, raised the waltz to a higher level

of picturesqueness, virtuosity, and artistry, or even

reached the level Chopin achieved. As with the symphony

after Beethoven, what greater, deeper species could be

evolved?

Robert Schumann's twelve Papillons have the character

of waltzes and polonaises, as observed from their rhythms,

r

._ . W......,. ,,.... ... N,...a_ - w.. .. , .. _....... ... .-.. . - -- - - - _ ,.-'s. .

A, 61 _ -

27

though no further titles provide clues. Schumann did not

write sets of waltzes, but individual ones appear in various

suites. Short binary and ternary structures varying from a

heavier German to a gentler romantic style evoke imaginary

ballroom scenes. In the Grossvatertanz, built on a seventeenth-

century tune, one hears the clock striking and the dancers

dispersing. Schumann's trademark, a plethora of syncopation,

infuses the Landler Op. 124 No. 7.

Ex. 6a-Robert Schumann: Landler Op. 124 No. 7: m. 9-15

The Faschingsschwank aus Wien resembles a suite and pays

homage to the Viennese waltz. The first dance depicts a

masked pageant, including the procession of the prince of the

feast, who keeps calling the composer back to the "robust

life of reality" from Eusebian states of mercurial dreaming.

An allusion to Schubert is clothed in Schumann's style, "a

ghostlike apparition to one familiar with Viennese dance tunes,

and now the fantastic dream-images whirl around in confusion,

waltzing about in a mad masquerade, to the 'Marseillaise'

and a (German) dance by Schubert." 2 1

2 1 Nettl, p. 289-290.

28

1. Alle ro. Op.rIMSakr tebhaft. c s 4

Ex. 6b-Robert Schumann: Faschingsschwank aus Wien:beginning.

Taking Schubert as his model, Johannes Brahms produced

a series of short movements in an intimate style redolent

of the LAndler of Schubert but more diversified in structure.

Several are built conventionally from three eight-bar

phrases, but the majority ~void rhythmic squareness by means

of (1) expansions and contractions in the phrase-lengths and

(2) consistent syncopation, a device which Brahms took from

Schumann and further elaborated. In some of Brahms's

waltzes the opening phrase returns to conclude the movement;

in others the material is limited or developed in other keys

from the first double-bar on. The last two waltzes differ in

- --

29

character from the others. Waltz 15, in Ab, likely the

most famous of the set, is a miniature rondo with three

occurrences of the main theme, the last varied. Waltz 16,

in C# minor, uses double counterpoint, the upper two

voices exchanging roles from the first phrase to the second.

It is as if Brahms realized his lack of discipline and

decided to conclude with a waltz worthy of two tunes capable

of combination and inversion. 2 2 The tonality of the last

waltz is curious. Most of the first fifteen waltzes are in

E, B, or g# (emphasizing the E major triad); then, as if not

belonging to the set, the last one moves to c# (or in some

editions, even more remotely, to d).

Ex. 6c-Johannes Brahms: Waltz No. 16: first theme

2 2Horace Dann, Brahms's Waltzes, Program notes for

phonograph record (1958).

30

As in many of his small instrumental pieces, Brahms

used many elements of folk melody and folk rhythm in his

waltzes. The succession of the waltzes is loose, with no

expressive progression or climax.

Johann Strauss Jr. continued his family's tradition of

composing and conducting functional dance music in Vienna.

Of almost five hundred pieces bearing his name, several

hundred are waltzes, many of which have never been surpassed

for melodic beauty, elegance, and romance, and most of which

are eminently suitable for concert performance as well as

for dancing. A typical Strauss waltz consists of at least

five smaller waltzes preceded by an often overblown intro-

duction and ending in a coda that is not very long; normally

the whole lasts five to ten minutes. The introduction is

often quite slow and in some meter other than triple;

sometimes the character is that of a march. The sub-waltzes

have the usual simple forms with most sections repeated. The

first is usually aggressive in character and returns near the

end; a second, contrasting dance also may recur. Strauss

would juxtapose a vigorous, "masculine" theme with a quieter,

passive, "feminine" one for the conscious purpose of representing

wooing and acquiescing (compare Ex. 7a and 7b with Ex. 1).

The contrast must involve tempo among other factors, and many

modern performers unaware of this necessity destroy the

intended artistic effect.

2 3 Jacob, p. 197.

31

Strauss once stated that dance melodies flowed from him

(or even through him) like water. Moreover, he felt as if

he did not create waltzes, but that he needed only to cut

chunks of "waltz" that was all around like ether, and label

or package them.2 3

Carl Tausig, born in 1840, studied with Franz Liszt from

his middle teens until his early twenties. Though Tausig was

at first musically immature and brusque, his facility was

nevertheless breathtaking, so that even Liszt had to marvel.

Tausig delighted in playing passages, often of his own

composition or arrangement, that nobody else (except perhaps

Liszt) could handle. His hands could span enormous distances;

and he regularly fingered pieces, such as those of Chopin,

so as to spread his fingers as wide as possible. His studies

with Liszt caused his musicianship to approach the excellence

of his technique, and he soon became one of the finest

pianists in the world.

Besides performing, Tausig achieved most through his

numerous arrangements, rather than original compositions.

One of his best-known works in this field is his version of

Weber's Invitation to the Dance, a bravura show-stopper.

His arrangement of Strauss's Man Lebt Nur Einmal! raised a

collection of Landler to the level of a highly virtuosic

2 3Jacob, p. 197.

32

concert waltz for piano. Especially effective is its

treatment of orchestral textures at the keyboard. The two-

page introduction resembles a march as much as a 3/4 movement

can. A 2/4 meter is simulated by beginning the piece, and

a later phrase after a fermata, on an accented second beat

(Ex. 7a). The many left-hand stretches required by the

tenths are strenuous. The main theme is built on a motive

of fivefold quick repetitions of close-spaced chords; however,

using the fact that single repetitions are relatively easy,

Tausig solved the physical difficulty apparent in this

motive by a double-alternation of the hands (Ex. 7b). In

the reprise, though, even this will not work, because more

notes are added, and the repetition must be accomplished by

one hand. But the character of the form dictates that clarity

and lightness are no longer primary considerations and also

that the tempo may be broadened slightly. The second,

"feminine" theme in the main waltz (Ex. 1) and the first

theme in the middle section employ yodeling motives. The

whole middle section, especially its second and final themes,

make Schumann-like consistent use of hemiola (Ex. 7c).

Atypically, the introductory theme recurs, serving to conclude

both the first main section and the coda.

33

Ex. 7a--Johann Strauss, Jr. (arr. Carl Tausig) : ManLebt Nur Einmal!: m. 39-45.

v~m-

-1 AkPk I

544*

a

5*5

LI U". v w

Ex. 7b-Johann Strauss, Jr. (arr.Lebt Nur Einmal!: main theme.

Carl Tausig) : Man

low

.i-

AL JAMab -it - 1 -

1= T- T--IV

3BIF Ar

I

1

i

I *Apr--

I

34

Ex. 7c-Johann Strauss, Jr. (arr. Carl Tausig): ManLebt Nur Einmal!: middle section; final theme.

Toward the latter part of the 19th century some composers

injected nationalistic elements into their waltzes, such as

the Russians Tchaikovsky, Liadov, Rubinstein, and Glazunov;

the Czechs Smetana and Dvorak; and the Scandinavians Grieg

and Sibelius. By far the greatest exponent of Norwegian

nationalism in music was Edvard Grieg. His facile waltzes

Op. 12 no. 2, in A minor; Op. 35 No. 7, in E minor; and

Valse Melancolique Op. 68 No. 6 show little trace of folk-

tune influence. But the Valse-Impromptu, Op. 47 No. 1, is

midway between the salon-music style of the above three and

his distinctly Norwegian style. Its melody, containing

intervals typical of folk music, against guitar-like chords

which frequently jangle in a different direction, creates an

35

effect of "harmonic crudity that looks backward to primitive

music and forward to modern bi-tonality" (Ex. 8). The

combination of styles is unified by a smooth piano texture.2 4

Ex. 8-Edvard Grieg: Valse-Impromptu, Op. 47 No. 1: m. 3-7

The melodies and rhythms of Antonin Dvorak's eight

waltzes Op. 54 (1880) show unmistakable Czech influence, such

as frequent apparent combinations of 6/8 or 3/2 meter with

the basic 3/4, a device reminiscent of Chopin's Waltz Op. 42.

Also Chopinesque is the expanded size of the sections and

the occasional ritornello procedure. Unlike Chopin, but

completely refreshing, is the juxtaposition of different keys

for the different sections, more in the manner of Schubert.

Colorful effects abound, especially in the code. The

subdominant-tonic cadence of the Waltz No. 6, in F, includes

a discord f-bb-db-gb sustained for several bars before

resolving to a tonic triad, as if to insinuate that the

strongest cadence is one that relaxes the most tension. The

Waltz No. 4, in Db, ends with a recurrent falling leading-tone

2 4 Dale, p. 272.

36

(Grieg is famous for this) that causes almost as much tension

in its motion as in its incidence.

Mahler and Tchaikovsky distorted and parodied dance

tunes to symbolize the triviality of life. Their waltzes,

though tinged with idioms from their respective fatherlands,

contain grotesqueries that anticipate Bart6k, Prokofiev,

Poulenc, and Ravel.

Franz Liszt became famous both for his original waltz

compositions and for his arrangements. The latter were

always show-pieces exploiting the virtuosic possibilities

to their imaginative utmost, yet his sense of the beautiful

in melody and harmony never sagged. He eagerly undertook

his fantasy on the waltz from Gounod's Faust, the most

popular opera at that time.

The tune of the waltz breaks out of the rumbling andthe thunder of the preluding bars. . . . It is possibleto hear . . . a sort of epitome . . . of all the slangywaltzes escaping out of the opened doors of theatres. . . .The waltzes of Offenbach are implicit in it. . . . It wasto fall, doomed to fall . . . When the waltz comes back,once more and for the last time, it is decked out indevilish and fiendish finery. . . .25

With this transcription Liszt simultaneously satisfied the

taste of his audiences and ridiculed them for enjoying such

a frivolity.

2 5 Sacheverell Sitwell, Liszt (Boston, 1934), p. 251.

Wa1zeraus der Opw FAUST von Gounod.

Allegro molto vivace. 1 > -

15. >. -escrv"

EA4111 ' A .t .11 -.-

Screscendo.---

acetm . -4 - . -

.1.1* .4. . 4

Ex. 9aFranzLiszt:Waltzfrom te tOpeatFutbGouno: inrodution

37

i

.d

38

Whereas Weber and Chopin transported the waltz from the

dance hall to the concert hall, Liszt with his four Mephisto

Waltzes transported the listener from the concert hall to

some ancient, legendary village inn. Whereas with his Faust

arrangement he jibed at the audience, with his Mephisto

Waltzes he caricatured the dance itself. In form, tempo,

variety, and virtuosity, the first Mephisto Waltz is to a

Strauss waltz as the latter is to a late-eighteenth-century

Ldndler. The tempo is so fast that it is written in 3/8.

Not only have the second and third beats in the measure lost

their accents, but not even every bar gets accented. The

piece begins with a bar of rest, the sound commencing in

m. 2; Liszt has indicated with numbers how bars are grouped

in fours (Ex. 9b). Later measures are written in 2/4, 2/8,

etc. (Ex. 9c) and thus lose even the slightest trace of

triplicity. Such division of a waltz measure into four equal

parts can be traced back at least to Chopin's Minute Waltz

(1846-7), Op. 64 No. 1 (Ex. 9d: m. 45, r.h.). The Mephisto

Waltz is deceptive tonally as well as rhythmically. The

"home" scale has three sharps; and much of the waltz, including

the coda, is in A major. But even though the three sharps

appear from the beginning, it takes two pages to find A major.

The opening gradually builds a chord mostly in perfect fifths

from a low E, as if to suggest string instruments tuning.

However, the E never functions as a dominant; instead it

39

remains while the B above it moves to c, producing a C major

chord in first inversion.

Allegro vivace (quasi presto.)

.0 she - I

Val=oil* * 4 FM

1 1 S frnarcaeo

Ali IL

it OFF

*44 w

M TL M 1109 Ad I Ida

a& -AwL A& I AWL Ad& Ago

,n "M WT '*1 00 40 d* df4-ta ---- W7 -T.0 40 0 10

,

m 12 nwqo2u m Q W-4 R-A i a M.ft. qp 4pW"f fWf1 000 ..*.

Ex. 9b-Franz Liszt: Mephisto Waltz No. 1: m. 1-29

Poco Allegrctto e rubato.conjrazia.....- .----

p d ee amoros

ie''o 2

.egg'ero ,

5"

*oo

Ex. 9c-Franz Liszt: Mephisto Waltz No. 1: m. 474-477,m. 487, m. 780.

N-I

LZ

(!) (2) (t) (a1

91-

-

I Inr I I I I I I 1i

I

A

40

. -Z _R i i 1m W o omo m

Ex. 9d-Fr6deric Chopin: Waltz Op. 64 No. 1: m. 42-45

Liszt's third and fourth Mephisto Waltzes show how he

simplified his style in old age, demanding technically much

less, exploiting the brilliant quality of the piano far less

than in earlier years, "but by an unusual economy of means

producing novel effects in tone-color. By virtue of the

elusive tonal basis and subtle rhythm the music is realistically

Mephistophelian in character."2 6

The opening theme of the third Mephisto Waltz is built on

rising and falling single, double, and triple arpeggi on c#,

e#, a#, d#' (a major third and two perfect fourths), all

blended with the pedal. The harmonic vagueness achieved

thereby typifies Liszt's late works. Throughout the first

half of the piece, the key signature vacillates between six

sharps and all naturals. The fourth waltz hovers between major

and minor, and between keys a half-step apart (looking backward

to Schubert and forward to Bart6k). The final cadence in plain

octaves aims at no key, and leaves the hearer in suspense.

26 Dale, p. 266.

41

ll~e lbu. u set Urn'

A& IL~

Ex. 9e-Franz Liszt: Mephisto Waltz No. 3: beginning

The four Valses Oubliees, sardonic, flighty, and

extemporaneous-sounding, evoke nostalgic impressions from

the past. They are loose in form and tonally vague. The

first is introduced by a sequence of diminished-seventh

chords. The main theme begins in F# major over dominant

harmony in third inversion with double appoggiatura. Its

reprise starts on the same pitch (d#'=eb'), which functions

the same (submediant) but in a different key (G minor) . A

short coda spends itself and dies out, on c#', without really

ending. The F#-major chord, presumably the tonic, occurs only

once in this waltz: at the end of the first phrase of the

main theme, and even that once is inverted.

Ex. 9f-F'ranz Liszt: Valse Otibliee No. 1: mn. 10-18

amm L.

42

The Waltz in the Twentieth Century

Although Liszt missed this century by fourteen years,

his late work certainly adumbrated modern music. He was

among the first to move toward thinner sonorities, less

functional harmony and less emphasis on tonality, a return

to shorter, transparent forms, and a caustic, satirical mood.

The country most associated with early twentieth-century

musical satire is France. But Hungary, though not usually

considered a prime source of waltzes despite its geographical

proximity to Austria, seems to have excelled in waltz-

caricature. Bela Bartok did not become famous writing

waltzes. But like his compatriot Liszt, he was devoted to

his country's folk-music and extremely sensitive to all kinds

of unusual effects.

When Bart6k showed his Bagatelles to Busoni, the latter

remarked, "Endlich etwas wirklich neues." They are mostly

short, forthright studies in twentieth-century style, each

on a different aspect. The waltz Ma mie qui danse...

(Bagatelle No. 14, 1908) is "a somewhat unfeeling, even

sardonic piece-a caricature, perhaps of Poldini-duplicating

the second of the Two Portraits for orchestra . . . "27 The

Two Portraits present two views of one subject, like a cubist

painting. Both use the same germ-motive d-f#-a-c# (rising)

2 7 Halsey Stevens, The Life and Music of Bela Bartok(New York, 1953), p. 112.

43

(Ex. 10a). The first, the "ideal," treats the subject

tenderly; the second, the "ironic," by a fast, brittle

waltz. Haraszti comments,

The technique of his Two Portraits is already completelylinear. As in painting, which reduces the stereometryof solid bodies to a flat surface, so also in music,dematerialization and abstraction prevail. It is thecubist conception of matter and cubist geometricalrhythmic in sound.2 8

In the Bagatelle Bartok shows "a Stravinskian awareness of

advanced stylistic possibilities before Stravinsky had been

heard of." 2 9 One of the Magyar elements present in the

Bagatelle is a kind of organum in thirds-parallel major

thirds not functioning in a tonality (Ex. 10b).

Ex. l0a-Bela Bartok: Bagatelle No. 14: m. 9-14

f loc aroe. dim. p

Ex. lOb--Bela Bartok: Bagatelle No. 14: m. 109-114

2 8 Emil Haraszti, Bela Bartok: His Life and Works (Paris,1938) , p. 59.

2 9 Stevens, p. 298.

44

Maurice Ravel composed two monumental waltz-pieces:

one a caricature, the other an apotheosis; one a suite of

separate waltzes, the other a huge waltz; one during his

happy prime, the other after an emotional breakdown eight

years later. The Valses Nobles et Sentimentales, consisting

of seven waltzes plus an epilogue, date from the earlier,

saner period. Both the music and the title, were inspired

by Schubert. 3 0 They evoke a cold, piquant, intellectual,

neo-classic atmosphere. A quotation from the novel Les

Rencontres de Monsieur de Breot, by Henri de Regnier, appears

on the score: "The delightful and always novel pleasure of

an useless occupation." 31

3 0Dale, p. 252.

3 1Arbie Orenstein, Ravel: Man and Musician (New York,1975), p. 176.

45

"at :.

rIl T70-4J1r PI d:o-l I

ps -

m - -

I F-M -- K -- N--K-zummL -- AL IAPI -9mI N N 0

LL

ddl= -

sotNI RfilMu 1

tourdlne

Uin peu plus lent

5J

~~~sourd ins

Ex. lla-Maurice Ravel: Valses Nobles et Sentimentales:epilogue. The epilogue recalls fragments from the variouswaltzes in the set, as shown by the respective Roman numbers.Measure numbers are in boxes.

La Valse, subtitled "Poeme Choregraphique," pays homage

to Johann Strauss, Jr.: ". . . the bright sunlight of the

Viennese waltz has been split up against a Sharp prism into

a many-colored spectrum. "3 2 Melodic seventh-leaps (sometimes

32 Carner, p. 66.

J rirl

p ty . lni lni i

ToolIL -MIK- 9 A"

IF MW

ON AIL--

b

4 I

"1

...

46

sounding more like diminished octaves), oom-pa-pa accompa-

niments, and glissandi by the strings exemplify the Strauss-

like devices.

The two pianists Marcelle Meyer and Ravel performed the

work for the first time, at the home of Misia Sert, to whom

it is dedicated, in the presence of Diaghilev, Massine,

Poulenc, and Stravinsky. Diaghilev called La Valse "a master-

piece . . . but it's not a ballet. It's a portrait of ballet

a painting of a ballet." "Stravinsky remained silent.

Ravel calmly took his manuscript and walked out. The

incident marked a permanent rupture of relations between

Ravel and Diaghilev." 3 3

The working-out of the composition took fourteen years.

Ravel has supplied a program:

Through whirling clouds, waltzing couples loom faintlyinto view. The clouds gradually scatter; one sees atletter "A" an immense hall peopled with a whirlingcrowd. The scene is gradually illuminated. The lightof the chandeliers bursts forth at the fortissimo atletter "B". An imperial court, about 1855.34

3 3 Orenstein, p. 78.

47

em dehc'rs

Ex. llb---Maurice Ravel: La Valse: m. 64-72

.1 3 lf

S I I I 1

Ex. llc-Maurice Ravel: La Valse: m. 135-139

The two main sections of the work run roughly parallel,

the last freely restating the first and introducing no new

themes. Only the pulse begins, the heartbeat of the waltz.

Lost phrases float in, blend together in ever longer units,

and slowly emerge as a reminiscence of Vienna. A melody

emerges such as Strauss or Lanner might have written; but it

gyrates like dancers a bit off-balance, steadies, then whirls

on; the dancers swing in wide arcs near the edge of madness.

In the second half the themes grow wilder and weirder; a

f ;I S

AIL

..

48

"fantastic and fatal whirling" builds up to a breaking-

point (ex. lld) ; and the world ends in a paroxysm of frenzy.

This final section was influenced by his emotional breakdown

following World War One and the death of his mother.

4.1j& al i 1 ifs1

~k A &_....1....

IZ F

*WxtFT

J.

- % -iTV

Ex. lld-Maurice Ravel: La Valse: m. 579-581, m.605, m. 624-628, m. 645-647.

601-

Basically La Valse is completely tonal, the main key of

D major unifying the piece in prominent places. However, as

in Liszt's first Mephisto-Waltz, the tonality takes two

~I.IR

A

+.J

.. A-A-

A93E Fi6.7.i

i _ ._ ,

I

_jibI I

fl I

i'm - mr - I _

1

''

49

pages to arrive. When it finally enters, moreover, it

sounds tentative, not speaking with authority until the

fortissimo at "B". The upward leaps in some of the melodies

hereabouts originated in the yodel. Ravel completed the work

started by Chopin and continued by Liszt in destroying the

stereotyped concept of 3/4 waltz meter: a frequent accompa-

niment figure consists of eight even, unaccented notes

rumbling in the bass or rippling in an inner voice, at times

against three quarters in another register (three against

eight is one of the most difficult cross-rhythms), occasionally

against no other rhythm, and once in a while against two even

dotted quarters in the melody (Ex. lle; also last two m. of

Ex. llb).

Ex. lle-Maurice Ravel: La Valse: m. 77, m. 106-107

Near the end, a low point is reached from which the

"fatal whirling" starts. This section features a counter-

melodic line that rises a half-step at each measure for 36

measures, then at each beat for eight bars. Frequent augmented

| M mi

50

triads occur throughout for the sake of cloudy color effects.

One of Ravel's favorite devices, appearing on the next-to-

last page, is two major triads moving in contrary half-steps

(Ex. llf: m. 724). The harmony of La Valse never reaches

the complexity of Gaspard de la Nuit, but bears closer

kinship to the G-major Concerto.

The first performance of La Valse used four hands.

Ravel also arranged the version heard on this recital for

piano solo. Many passages require three staffs to notate

all the parts; and it seems that Ravel purposely wrote more

notes than humanly possible to play, so as to give the

performer some choice regarding what to leave out. The

best approach is to learn two staffs well, then add what one

can.

n~~

-~jI e de or

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52

w y r /07

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Ex. llf and llf'-Maurice Ravel: La Valse: m. 50-51,m. 243-244, m. 326-327, m. 391-392, m. 553-555, m. 614-618,m. 724. Ex. llf is Ravel's arrangement, most of which isimpossible for two hands; Ex. llf' is a practical performingversion of the same measures, edited by Wm. L. Adams Jr.

Summary

The story of waltz music has progressed from simple,

nonchalant double periods and loose successions of rudimentary

forms. From the early nineteenth century, its structure

became more integrated through the principle of recurrence,

oddly enough, just as most other music began a trend toward

greater diversification and, eventually, looseness in form;

at the same time, it followed the general trend of music

toward virtuosic difficulty and expression. Thence it passed

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3 z.

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53

to the stage of satire, caricature, various distilled

essences, and climactically, in Ravel, distilled essence.

Whether waltz composition can reach further heights, depths,

or other extremes remains for some future genius to discover.

That waltz performance will continue to delight musicians,

dancers, and listeners appears certain.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Abraham, Gerald, Chopin's Musical Style, London, OxfordUniversity, 1939.

Carner, Mosco, The Waltz, London, Max Parrish & Co., Ltd.,1948.

Dale, Kathleen, Nineteenth-Century Piano Music: A Handbookfor Pianists, London, Oxford University, 1954.

Dann, Horace, Program notes for phonograph record, Brahms'sWaltzes, 1958.

Haras zti , Emil, Bela Bartok : His Life and Works, Paris,Lyrebird, 1938.

Huneker, James, Chopin: The Man and His Music, New York,C. Scribner's Sons, 1927.

Hutcheson, Ernest, The Literature of the Piano, Third(erGanzte) Edition, New York, Alfred A. Knopf, 1966.

Jacob, H.E., Johann Strauss, Father and Son: A Century ofLight Music,Tr. Wolff, New York,Crown,l1939.

Jonson, G.C.A., A Handbook to Chopin's Works, London, Reeves,1908.

Kirby, F.E. , A Short History of Keyboard Music, New York,Free Press, 1966.

Nettl, Paul, The Story of Dance Music, New York, PhilosophicalLibrary, Inc., 1947.

Niecks, Frederick, Programme Music in the Last Four Centuries,London, Novello & Co., 1907.

Orenstein, Arbie, Ravel: Man and Musician, New York, ColumbiaUniversity, 1975.

Pastene, Jerome, Three-Quarter Time, New York, Abelard Press,1951.

54

55

Porter, Evelyn, Music Through the Dance, London, B.T. Batsford,Ltd. , London, 19 37 .

Reeser, Eduard, The History of the Waltz, Stockholm, ContinentalBook Co., 1949. -

Sachs, Curt, World History of the Dance, New York, Norton &Co., Inc., 1937.

Searle, Humphrey, The Music of Liszt, London, Williams &Norgate Ltd., 1954.

Sitwell, Sacheverell, Liszt, Boston, Houghton Mifflin Co.,1934.

Stevens, Halsey, The Life and Music of Bela Bart6k, New York,Oxford University, 1953.

Warrack, John, Carl Maria Von Weber, New York, Macmillan Co.,1968.

Weinstock, Herbert, Chopin: The Man and His Music, New York,Oxford University, 1953.

Weissman, John, "Bartk's Piano Music," reprinted in BelaBartok: A Memorial Review, New York, Boosey and Hawkes,Inc., 1950.

Wierzynski, Casimir, Program notes for phonograph record,Rubinstein Plays Chopin, RCA Victor.